


what once was mine

by Mai_Blade



Category: Overlord - Maruyama Kugane & Related Fandoms, The Wandering Inn - pirateaba
Genre: AU of one is silver, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Do Not Post on Another Website, Don't copy to another site, Family Drama, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reader Has A Name, Reader-Insert, Reincarnation, Slice of Life, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-20
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2019-11-26 13:40:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18181328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mai_Blade/pseuds/Mai_Blade
Summary: Relc gets thrown back in time to the day his daughter left to some day become a Courier. He let her go once.He's not going to make that mistake again.





	1. Chapter 1

“She was mine _first_.”

That is the last thing Relc hears from the towering figure of Ainz Ooal Gown before a dark portal opened beneath his prone and exhausted body. The next thing Relc knows, his head jerks back and he finds himself in the full light of day, as startled as though he had nearly just fallen asleep on his feet.

He does not know where Ainz Ooal Gown intended to send him, but somehow Relc finds himself staring over the grass plains near Liscor. The wetness and mud of spring are nowhere to be seen, and the exhaustion that should have been clinging to him like his scales is jarringly absent.

“Relc?”

Snapping his head to the side, he is baffled to find Klbkch staring back at him. Relc’s jaw drops open as he realizes that his buddy still has four arms and is no longer as slim as he has been since his resurrection. His partner tilts his head slightly before speaking.

“Is something amiss? Are you having second thoughts about letting Ashe leave?”

He doesn’t understand what’s going on but everything in the present moment feels real enough that he latches on to the one thing that has been burning into his mind for days: Ashe. Klbkch just mentioned Ashe, and Relc remembers this day, remembers that about seven years ago he let his daughter leave Liscor to become a Courier and how in present day (seven years later?) she had been taken from him.

( _he doesn’t know if this is real or not but in case it is—_ )

Relc ignores Klb calling after him as he suddenly sprints after Ashe. He can’t see her anymore but at her current level there is no way she can outdistance him. As he triggers [Lightning Sprint] to blur the ground beneath his feet, Relc can feel his heart squeezing in his chest. It is not fear constricting his breathing, nor is it the effort needed to run as fast as he does with his Skill, and his daughter’s grey back comes into view, the feeling tightens in his chest even more.

( _she traded herself, she gave herself up, **she didn’t run back to him**_ )

Ashe lets out a high-pitched shriek when he scoops her up off the ground, still running at high speed. Vaguely, Relc registers that Hawk is yelping something too, but right now, the only one Relc has eyes for is the startled female in his arms.

“Wha—dad!” 

Ashe’s eyes narrow at him in anger, losing the fear that had made them open wide, but Relc can’t find it in himself to care. He can only stare down at her as he checks her over for wounds, momentarily stuck in the future where he hasn’t seen in her months rather than just minutes in the current time. Her chest is rising and falling a little faster than usual, but she had just been running, so that wasn’t unexpected. There is nothing amiss from his daughter, but Relc is struck by the realization of just how small she is.

Embria was twenty just a few moments ago, and Ashe had been nineteen when he last saw her, but the Ashe right now was only thirteen. The difference between a nineteen-year-old female and a thirteen-year-old female is stark enough that he can’t help but think ‘hatchling’. Thirteen isn’t small, but he has been living in a nightmare ever since the day of the attack on Pallass.

( _he thought her dead but then learned she was just taken, taken with little hope of seeing her again, taken by a skeleton wreathed in darkness and hidden behind monsters that made Az’kerash’s Bone Giants look like jokes, taken and jealously hoarded, and all of his own effort only resulted in a scratch against one of Ainz Ooal Gown’s **subordinates**_ )

Something on his face makes the irritation on Ashe’s melt away into open concern.

“Dad?”

She lets out a small and muffled sound as he pulls her tighter to him, maybe using a little too much strength as she follows up with complaint whimper. He bows his head over her and for a long moment just relishes in the fact that she is safe and securely within his reach.

“You’re not going.”

She freezes and stops wiggling in an attempt to escape. “Uh?”

He lifts his head so that he can align his gaze with hers.

“You’re not leaving.”

Her face scrunches in a mix of anger and confusion. “What? Yes, I am! Dad, I _told_ you—!”

He lifts her up from under her armpits and holds her up like he used to when she and Embria were small hatchlings. She is thirteen and would normally be too heavy for most Drakes to do this, but Relc is more than strong enough to do so with ease.

“You don’t need to be a Courier. You don’t need to leave Liscor.”

She pouted, scales slightly colored with embarrassment. “I don’t _need_ to, yeah, but I _want_ to.”

( _she was a Courier, but only because she encountered dangers, and she was called Sky Walker, but she only learned to jump on air because she nearly died on a delivery_ )

“Ashe.”

At first she kept up her glare, but as the seconds passed, her tail stopped thrashing in the air behind her and the look of defiance on her face softened.

“Dad?”

( _she didn’t run back home to him_ )

He asked ( _pleaded_ ).

“Stay in Liscor with your old man?”

Her lips pursed together and she glanced over his head—he suddenly remembered that Hawk was here too, but he didn’t turn to look—and then she turned her eyes back on him. Relc tried to grin at her. She slowly inhaled a long breath before letting it out with a sigh.

“Okay, dad. I’ll stay here with you.”

He hid the sudden tears of relief in his eyes by throwing her over one shoulder and immediately starting back to Liscor, cheerfully and loudly yelling.

“Great! Let’s get back before Klb comes looking for us or something.”

“I can walk,” Ashe protested, kicking her feet.

He ignored her and quickly blinked his eyes dry.

She sighed again and called apologies after Hawk, saying she’d be staying in Liscor after all. The bunny Beastkin sounded downhearted by this sudden change in their plans to travel together, but hang him! Ashe was all that mattered, and now she would be staying home with him where she was safe.

 _Where she **belonged,**_ he thought darkly at Ainz Ooal Gown.

Let the skeleton bastard come. By the time he showed, Ashe would never want anything to do with him ever again. Relc and Embria were all the family she needed. Just wait and see!

( _he wouldn’t lose her again, not again, not to that **thing**_ )

Claw tightly gripping his spear, he kept a firm grip on Ashe and started jogging back to the city, eager to get his daughter behind the walls again, as though that was all he would ever need to keep her with him for the rest of their lives. He knew it wouldn’t be enough, but still, he would feel better once his child was behind the safety of the walls, just a little more hidden from Ainz Ooal Gown.

Seven years.

He had seven years to make sure Ashe never so much as looked Ainz Ooal Gown’s way. Maybe they had been siblings in another life, but in this one she was _his_ daughter, _his_ child.

He wasn’t going to hand her over. He wasn’t going to let go.

This time, _this time_ Relc would keep Ashe close by.

He wasn’t going to lose her again.

* * *

**A daughter always lives in her daddy's heart no matter how old or where she is.**

**~Debasish Mridha MD ******

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Yes, yes. I know. But, I wanted to write something today, only to realize I had left my flashdrive and all my fanfiction WIPs at home. =_=
> 
> Story title derived from Rapunzel, specifically the lines "Make the clock reverse, Bring back what once was mine".


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, so you’d been having doubts about leaving in chase of becoming a Courier someday, but really, just after you’d resolved yourself to leaving, Relc has to come out of nowhere—scaring you _half to death_ by grabbing you up off your feet out of the blue—and just say that you’re not allowed to go anymore? You had wanted to protest, to tell him that going with Hawk was what you wanted to do, but then you saw the look on his face.

He looked like he was scared of losing you.

( _he wasn’t crying, but if you had fought him you had no trouble believing that it would have come to that, just like—_ )

Back when you were born, you stayed then for his sake, and just a little while ago while looking at his shaky, forced grin, how could you put up a fight to leave when it would only make him sad?

( _it tugged at your heart once, but now it breaks your heart instead—and why is that?_ )

So now you were staring at Hawk who was staring back at you, all while he got further away as you got closer back to Liscor, thrown over your dad’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Finally, it is Hawk who looks away, and then he is gone. Feeling somewhat despondent— _goodbye goal of becoming a Courier_ —you settle limply over Relc’s shoulder as he continues his steady jog back to Liscor. You only stop being a noodle when you hear Klbkch’s voice.

“Hello again, Miss Ashe. I did not expect to see you return to Liscor so quickly.”

You snort and glare at Klbkch after putting a claw under your chin. You hope your elbow is digging into Relc but with his [Thick Skin] and [Iron Skin] he probably doesn’t feel a thing.

“I didn’t expect to be back so quickly, either.” You sighed dramatically. “But it seems that dad just can’t live without me.”

“I could,” he protested, still not letting you down. “I mean, it would suck, but I could. But if I don’t have to, then why should I?”

You smacked an ineffectual fist against his back. “That’s completely selfish!”

“Hey! You can’t deny that you’ll be loads safer in Liscor. There’s no need for you to go out there and risk your neck. There’s plenty of stuff you can do here! You know, without the dangers of Goblins, and wyverns, and stuff.”

You groaned and let your head and limbs flop limp. “You’re way too overprotective, you know that?”

Klbkch spoke up. “Forgive the sudden change of subject, but Relc, since you are already awake for the day, will this be a rare day when you sign in on schedule?”

Relc just laughed loudly. “Nope! We’re going for a second breakfast!”

“I see. Very well. However, you do understand that I will have to tell Captain Zevara the truth should she ask me if I have seen you today, do you not?”

You couldn’t see but you felt his claw leave your leg so he probably waved it at the Antinium.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’ll be there when I’ll be there.”

“It would be best if that was at least an hour before noon.”

“We’ll see.”

The two soon parted ways as Klbkch headed to the Watch barracks _like Relc should_ while Relc turned down a street with you still over his shoulder. Your face burned slightly with embarrassment whenever you heard chuckles from the crowd, but for the most part you were able to maintain at least a little bit of your dignity.

After two more minutes and he still hadn’t put you down, you lost patience and began to struggle.

“Dad, put me down! I can walk, you know!”

When he ignored you for several more steps, you slapped him in the face with your tail and held it over his eyes.

“Gah! Okay, okay!”

He bent over so that you could slide fee, and he rubbed his face while you hitched up your backpack and straightened your wrinkled travelling shirt. Folding your arms, you glared up at him ( _without pouting_ , because you are not a child).

He jerked his head in a nod, indicating that you should keep walking, so you reluctantly fell in step beside him. Sighing quietly, you wondered how you were going to be able to show your face back at the Runner’s Guild since nearly everyone knew about yours and Hawk’s joint plan to leave for Pallass and the challenges there. Picturing the mocking faces of the others did not improve your mood, so you were in a good sulk by the time you followed Relc into a tavern.

He ordered food for himself and then for you when you stubbornly refused to say anything. The bar maid left and soon returned with drinks, yours being milk. Goat’s milk, you guessed from the taste, glaring down at the mug in your hands. Across from you, Relc nervously drummed his claws against the table.

“Uh… so… nice weather?”

You lifted your irate gaze to see him wince. You sniffed. “Yes. It certainly is nice _travel weather_.”

His wince deepened for a second before something like resolve filled his eyes. He straightened and looked right back at you.

“Ashe, I want you to stay in Liscor with me. Okay?”

You continued glaring at him until he wilted just a bit.

“Is… is that really such a bad thing to want?”

You wavered and then crumbled, sighing as you let go of the tension in your body. “No, dad, it’s not a bad thing.”

It really wasn’t.

( _you remember wanting to stay near Suzuki, even after moving out_ )

You lived for his sake, so that he wouldn’t be sad and shed tears as he once did. Klbkch reminded you that Relc cared about you, and wasn’t Relc wanting you to stay yet more proof of that?

Sighing and putting a claw under your chin, you stared at the big Drake across from you and wondered aloud, “What am I going to do with you?”

“Live,” he said unexpectedly, sounding and looking uncharacteristically solemn. The look quickly vanished as he grinned brightly.

“Let’s live, Ashe.”

( _together_ )

You stared at him in surprise before letting out a muffled laugh.

Okay.

You have the [Reincarnate] class, so chances are, you will see this world one way or another. Maybe not as Ashe Grasstongue, but isn’t that okay? Mom already has the place of, well, _mom_ , and Suzuki has the places of ‘twin’, ‘brother’, and ‘elder sibling’. Veryl and Embria could not compete for those places in your heart, so you do not love them—you will not miss them the way you do Mom and Suzuki. Now, with Relc, he has the place of ‘dad’ and no one after him will be able to compete for that place. You will not allow yourself to love someone else.

( _to betray the ones you left behind—and yet you do not realize that such thinking will only lead you to a lonely hell of your own making_ )

He wants you to stay with him. You can give him that. This world can wait. You can see it in some other lifetime—probably, and even if you can’t, Relc’s request is more important than any selfish desire to leave, even if leaving isn’t forever.

You look back up at him and while there’s no hiding the disappointment of giving up on a goal so easily, you still manage to give him a smile.

“Alright, dad.

“Let’s live, you and me.”

He stared at you with a stupefied expression before suddenly bursting out into loud laughter. He smacked a claw against the table, making it jump and making you hastily snap up your mug before it spilled. You both ignored the tavern owner yelling at Relc not to damage his tables. Relc grinned widely at you, looking as he usually did—bright and full of life.

“You got it, Ashe. You got it.”

* * *

**Do anything, but let it produce joy.**

**~Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass**


	3. Chapter 3

It’s been three days since he convinced Ashe to stay with him. She’s gone back to the Runners Guild but he can tell that it has lost its shine to her. She wanted to be a Courier but she gave that up for him, so now she only runs because it’s a job. Ashe has been stripped of her goal and doesn’t really know what to do with herself. 

And Relc feels guilty whenever he sees her, because there’s no determination shining in her eyes anymore. It’s been about seven years for him since the time leading up to her departure from Liscor with Hawk, but he vaguely remembers that she had been looking forward to it. Now, though, with Hawk gone and her having given up on being a Courier… she looks like she’s just going through the motions of living.

Oh, she’ll smile at him, and her voice is cheery enough, but… Maybe he’s just overthinking things because he feels guilty.

But Relc won’t change his mind.

If Ashe leaves then she won’t grow attached to Liscor.

( _if she leaves then Ainz Ooal Gown will snatch her up_ )

She hasn’t really had time to get to know the place. She wasn’t here long before she left with Hawk in that other lifetime, and her visits were rarer than the Beastkin’s because she went further for longer. The only reason she ever even came back was because Relc liked his home city. It had been where he wanted to live out the rest of his life, so he had been the sole reason she came back at all after gaining the [Courier] class and status.

If she could grow up here, then maybe she won’t run straight into Ainz Ooal Gown’s arms.

Stupid Pallass. Blaming Ashe when she was the _reason_ why the whole walled city wasn’t demolished and invaded.

“Is something wrong, Relc?”

Startled out of his thoughts, Relc looked over at Klbkch. The citizen who had been talking—complaining, really—to the ant since Relc had just yawned in their faces was finally leaving. For some reason Klbkch was looked at him so Relc waved a claw in dismissal.

“Naw, nothing.”

“I ask because you were growling just a moment ago.”

Relc blinked. Really? Well, he couldn’t exactly tell Klbkch that he was mad at Pallass for something they didn’t even do yet. He shrugged. “It’s nothing. Just thinking about something that made me mad.”

“Very well. Let us resume our patrol, then.”

Relc fell in step next to Klbkch. As they walked, the citizens parted before them at the sight of Klbkch. Natural, given the Antinium Wars, but Klbkch’s hive saved Liscor from The Necromancer, so you’d think they’d be a little more discreet. He could barely remember how things had been back then (now?), when Klbkch was still new to the Watch.

Relc suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. Klbkch also stopped and looked over, but before he could say anything, words blurted out of Relc’s mouth.

“Aw, _hell!_ We’re not Senior Guardsmen yet, are we?”

Klbkch was quiet for a moment. Since they’d been in the middle of a busy street, Relc’s words had been heard by others who felt the need to let him know what they thought of his statement.

“Senior Guardsmen? _You two?_ I couldn’t think of any other two less suited to that role!”

“There’s no way an Antinium will ever be a Senior Guardsmen!”

“Are you drunk already, Relc? It’s barely past noon!”

Relc flipped the civilians off. “Bite your own tails!”

A few continued heckling them and Klbkch hustled him away before he could start a fight. Grumbling as they continued their scheduled patrol, Relc felt like stabbing something with his spear.

He was going to have to get four hundred people to vote him in as a Senior Guardsman again! That was annoying. Well, given his strength, it was inevitable that he would get there, but it was still a pain in the tail that he wasn’t getting a Senior Guardsman’s salary. Not that being a guardsman or even a senior one paid well, but still. That explained why Klbkch was so insistent that they stick to their patrol. They didn’t have Senior Guardsman status or immunity to be slacking off. Not that Klb ever slacked off much.

Klb was a serious guy. Good for pushing off the boring stuff on though, like the laws and signing in at the barracks and stuff. If he’d been a Drake, Relc didn’t think he’d like him much at all, which was weird since he liked Klb just fine as an ant. Not that Relc could ever _really_ trust Klbkch, not after the Antinium Wars.

“You seemed truly surprised that we are not Senior Guardsmen.”

Relc pulled himself from his thoughts and glanced over at his partner. “Huh?”

“You seemed to honestly expect us both to have the rank of Senior Guardsmen. Why?”

Shit. He slipped up. Uh, quick, think of something to say! Laugh!

“Well, we’re cool! I mean, I know I’m strong, and you, you know, you’re… smart?”

“That feels like a question. Are you questioning my intelligence?”

Relc rolled his eyes. “No. You’re smart. I’m strong. We’ll be Senior Guardsmen in…” He trailed off and deflated as he remembered the past (the future?). “Geh. In two to three years.”

And Ainz Ooal Gown would be here in seven.

“You seem certain about that. I regret that the public opinion on the Antinium is not currently in my favor, nor do I expect it to be anytime—“

“Klb.”

His partner fell silent.

( _he doesn’t realize this is the first time he’s calling him by that shortened name_

_to him it’s just habit, but to Klbkch it’s the first time **anyone** has called him that, even his own kind hasn’t, and it’s strange_

_and possibly a sign of progress_ )

He didn’t look over at his partner ( _his buddy_ ) but his eyes blazed with determination. He wasn’t strong enough seven years from now. He had quit the army, come home, and slacked off. He’d barely been able to fight that murderer Regrika Blackpaw for more than a few seconds. For all his effort, he’d only left a bare scratch on Ainz Ooal Gown’s mutant Antinium. He had been too weak to do anything.

He had been too weak to take back his daughter.

( _the one who’d gone from gloomy and wary to looking at him as though he hung the moons and the stars, to telling him **he** was her reason for living_)

Honestly speaking, Relc didn’t think that anyone could realistically challenge Ainz Ooal Gown and win. He doubted even The Necromancer would put up much of a fight. The Drake cities were too divided to put together a cohesive force, so what would be the point in warning them? No, Relc couldn’t do anything about the squabbling Drakes, but he could do something about his own strength, and maybe about Liscor’s Watch as well.

Relc gripped his spear.

“We’re gonna make Senior Guardsmen, you and me. And damn if we’re not gonna be the strongest ones!”

“You do realize that our workload will be proportionate to the level of skill we display, correct?”

Relc, who had raised his spear, deflated with a groan.

Klbkch, for all he was a good buddy, could _really_ ruin a good mood. He straightened with a grumble and scratched the spines on his head.

“Yeah, maybe,” he finally acknowledged reluctantly. But what was an increased workload to keeping Ashe safe next to him? “Still. I’m gonna be a Senior Guardsman one way or another, and the strongest one no contest. That means leveling up my classes.”

He spun his spear for effect and then directed a pointed grin at the Antinium still keeping pace next to him.

“What do you say, Klb? Want to help me keep my spear skills sharp?”

Klbkch stared ahead as he walked. Then, he turned his head and nodded.

“I believe that would be mutually beneficial.”

“All right!”

“Provided we don’t accidentally kill one another, of course.”

And again with the mood-kill skill.

* * *

**I think you're still the only person sharp enough to sharpen someone like me.**

**~Veronica Roth, Allegiant**


	4. Chapter 4

Over a month has passed since Hawk left Liscor, and you’ve only leveled up once in your [Runner] class. That’s probably because you aren’t making as many deliveries as you used to, not to mention you’re just not _feeling_ it anymore. Ever since Relc asked you to stay, you haven’t _wanted_ to level up in that class, not like you used to. After all, what was the point in leveling up if you couldn’t aim for being a Courier anymore? Why bother wasting your levels on a class that you don’t really need?

Level 17 is fine enough for being a runner who never goes far away.

Hissing suddenly, you shook your head in an attempt to clear away the negativity that was threatening to settle over you. You couldn’t think that way, otherwise you would only grow to resent Relc. You don’t want to resent him, not when he’s the reason why you’re still alive today.

So! Instead of thinking of how you can’t work towards becoming a Courier, you now need another goal to fill that gap. But what should you be? You had had a hard enough time settling on being Runner with the goal of becoming a Courier, so what should you aim for now?

Suddenly, you remember that week you spent cooking after Klbkch called you back out from where you had been trapped in your head. Relc had asked if you had gotten the [Cook] class and you hadn’t because you hadn’t wanted it. Back then, all you had wanted was your two classes so that you didn’t waste any of the 100 levels you thought you had. Right now, 17 had gone into the [Runner] class, plus one in the [Reincarnate] class. That left you with 88 levels to allocate, though of course you first had to earn them.

Sighing, you rubbed your scaly forehead as you sat at the kitchen table in Relc’s apartment. He paid for it, so it was his, as he so possessively pointed out not long after you had both moved in. At least your room was yours, and would be until you moved out.

Looking around the apartment from your chair, you realized that it was painfully bare. It would be messy too, if you didn’t clean up on a daily basis. A typical bachelor’s pad, if you compared it to your brother’s after you had moved out.

( _a lifetime ago_ )

Okay, say you wanted to be a cook and make a living off of that. Where would you start? You don’t really have the initiative to start up on your own, so that left getting a job. Where could you get a job as a cook? Remember, you are a novice. A few recipes do not make a cook who can handle a rush of orders. You would probably start out as an assistant or something. Ah, no, don’t get ahead of yourself. First you have to find a place that’s looking for an employee. Or maybe just go ask, even if they aren’t.

Standing up, you decided that you would start with Torg over at his tavern, the Claws and Scales.

Within twenty minutes, you found yourself standing in front of his bar as he glared you, arms folded. The dark green scaled Drake was behind the bar when you walked in, and the tavern wasn’t exactly busy at this time of day. In a few hours there would be more Gnolls and Drakes milling about, but you didn’t exactly know this place to be packed. Maybe he couldn’t afford another employee, but it didn’t hurt to ask, especially since this is the Drake Relc sold some of your recipes to.

“You want a job.”

Torg’s voice was flat. You nodded.

“Yes.”

“You want to cook.”

You nodded again.

“Yes.”

Torg glared at you, and then his eyes darted to the doorway that was behind you. His eyes narrowed. 

“Is Relc out there? If he thinks he’s going to bully me into giving his daughter a job, I swear—“

You waved a hand. “No, no. Dad’s not here. I came on my own.”

Torg snorted but didn’t say anything as he continued to suspiciously glare at the entrance. You couldn’t see, but you would bet that his tail was swaying in agitation. You don’t know how Relc ‘sold’ your recipes, but knowing your dad, he probably strong armed the other Drake, hence the agitation.

Considering his reaction to you so far, you weren’t exactly hopeful about getting a job here. Come to think of it, he probably wouldn’t even be able to pay you much. Not that you knew how much cooks made in common taverns, or anywhere, really. You just wanted a job to earn money, get the [Cook] class and level up so that you could earn more money and so on.

After what seemed like a long time in which Torg scrutinized you, he grumbled as he jabbed a claw in the direction of another door at the end of the bar.

“Go on, then. You listen to Vyssa and you do everything she says, got it?”

You smiled brightly. “I will!”

Soon you were standing just inside the kitchen where another Drake, this one a light green scaled female, was washing dishes. She looked over at you as she finished washing a plate.

“Well, I guess putting up with you is better than having to deal with your father.”

You tried not to wince. While it was not a certainty, it was still a possibility that Relc would be somewhat difficult in dealing with Torg if he ever heard that Torg had turned you away. Relc usually only concerned himself with your safety, like that time he ‘convinced’ the other Runners not to bully you, but you weren’t sure what he would do when it came to you job hunting. He _probably_ wouldn’t do much if you got turned away from places since that’s life, but considering how he could be at times, you couldn’t exactly blame Vyssa and Torg for how they viewed Relc.

Vyssa dried her claws and waved you towards the sink. “Come on then, hatchling. Make yourself useful.”

Your first day at work consisted mostly of washing the dishes and talking to Vyssa about the recipes Relc sold to Torg. Since they were ‘your’ recipes, Vyssa wanted to know more about them. You lied through your teeth and said you just made them up and used Relc as a test subject. Vyssa said Relc wasn’t a good test subject since he would eat anything, but you said he did make a good test subject _because_ he would eat anything, even the condiments you made.

Vyssa’s eyes flashed in interest as she glanced over at you. “Condiments?”

You nodded warily. “Y-yes. Like ketchup and mayonnaise.”

Vyssa turned her attention back to the vegetables she was cutting up. “Bring these ‘condiments’ in with you tomorrow. I will taste them. If they’re good, we can try selling them.”

You raised a claw. “Um, you _put_ it on food. You don’t really, er, eat it by itself.”

She glanced back at you for a second. “What do you mean?”

Wondering how to explain it, you remembered the fries recipe you sold and also the ‘hamburgers’ that people copied after Relc showed it off that one time. “I mean that you either put it on food or dip food into it. Like with the fries, you would dip those into ketchup. Or, if you were selling hamburgers, you could dollop some on under the bun. It’s for adding more taste, really.”

Vyssa hummed. “Why do they call those things hamburgers? No one uses ham.” She shook her head as she slid the vegetables off her cutting board and into a pan. “Anyway, bring some tomorrow, you hear?”

“I’ll need to buy stuff to make them,” you replied. “So should I come early and then leave to go to the market, or just come in late?”

“Buy the stuff at the market first thing and then come in. You can show me how to make them.”

You thought about that for all of two seconds. 

“No.”

Vyssa lifted the pan off the fire stove to glare at you. “What? You can’t refuse!”

You shrugged. “I’m not going to show you how to make that stuff for free, not even if I work here. I’m not selling my condiment recipes to anyone.”

Vyssa angrily turned her back on you and continued cooking in terse silence for the remaining work hours as you continued washing the dishes.

Right now, you were just really glad that Vyssa wasn’t Torg’s wife, daughter, or niece. You knew that much from your scant knowledge of Torg, at least. Nepotism would probably have been the end of you on your first day otherwise.

* * *

**Dream up ways to allow your freedom to not be anchored to a job.**

**~Richie Norton**


	5. Chapter 5

Intellectually, Relc knows that danger is looming seven years ahead in the forms of the undead, Gazi, Regrika Blackpaw, those freaking moths, and that damned Ainz Ooal Gown. He knows that he’s resolved himself to training and to getting his spear back sooner than in the future that was but isn’t anymore (he’s already sent a letter and will be sending another in a couple weeks, and has plans to send two letters a month until he gets his spear back). He knows that he wants to protect Ashe from Ainz Ooal Gown, and that to do that he needs to be stronger.

But.

It’s so _hard_ to get up early every day to keep up his spear training, not to mention that Klbkch has talked him into showing up to work on time in an effort to become the strongest Senior Guardsmen like Relc said they’d be. He kinda regrets how he let his mouth run, but every time he slacks off, the memory of Embria telling him that Ashe gave herself up for Pallass hits him over the head again. That Ainz bastard would never let Relc see her again, he could tell!

Okay, maybe his Ashe really was Ainz’s sister in another life, but that was then and this is now. She’s his daughter and she’s damn well going to be until the days they both die, which he hopes are years if not decades apart. Ainz didn’t want to share and Relc damn well doesn’t want to either.

Ashe deserves better than to be hidden away beneath the ground is some freaking dungeon for the rest of her life. She told him herself that she wants a hatchling of her own someday, and how’s she gonna have one if she never sees another Drake, huh? Answer him, Ainz Ooal Gown!

Selfish bastard.

Grunting, Relc finished his spear training with a fierce piercing thrust he imagined breaking the sternum of that undead monster.

He paused.

Wait. If Ainz was Ashe’s brother in another life, then wouldn’t she get mad at him for hurting the robe-wearing skeleton jerk?

Lowering his spear, Relc tried to think back on if Ashe had ever really gotten angry with him before. She’d get annoyed easily, yeah, but not-talk-to-him mad?

…Hm.

…Uh…

Nope. He’s drawing a blank. The worst she ever got were the tantrums she threw back when she was a young hatchling and didn’t want to wash with him anymore. She’d been like that for ages, but he finally stopped making her when Embria teamed up with her to tell him they didn’t need him to wash themselves. After that he’d been kicked out of the tent whenever wash time happened. It kind of hurt his feelings, now the he remembered. Bah. That was way back when, though, and not important.

Point was, Ashe had a soft spot for him a mile long. Ten miles long! And his soft spot for her was just as wide. If it wasn’t, there’s no way so many would know he was _maybe_ wrapped around her claw. Not that he was. He just liked showing her off because she was amazing.

Was.

She was amazing as a courier, but she isn’t going to be anymore, not if he has anything to say about it. Still, she doesn’t need to be a courier for him to love her. Her loves her and Embria just the way they are, even if the situation with Embria hasn’t been resolved.

Relc nearly walks into a doorframe.

Damn! Now he has to relive the whole tension between him and Embria all over again. Arrgh. She’s coming back to visit next year, and they’re going to have all those arguments and get banned from all those bars again. Well, banned when they’re together, anyway.

Grumbling, Relc left to get ready to report to the barracks. No doubt Klb would be disgustingly on time, and Relc promised to try to be there on time too. He doesn’t care about making a good impression, but looking back on his memories, even past-him reported in mostly on time back when he first started as a guardsman. So, off to work he went.

He and Klbkch were assigned a patrol through the city, and it was strange seeing people being all prickly and rude to Klbkch. Heck, _Relc_ had to deal with people coming up to them with their grievances, but in staying true to past-him, he either handed everything off to Klbkch or messed it up so badly that an Antinium stepping in was an improvement over what Relc was doing. He didn’t stress himself out over it since he was voted onto the Watch mostly for his strength. Oh, he knew how to write up reports and stuff for when Klb wasn’t around, but Klb was right here so Relc foisted the paperwork and social interactions off on him.

Klb tried to lecture him, but Relc waved him off. It was evening now, and all that was left was to sign out for the day. But, instead of going all the way back to the barracks to sign a piece of parchment, he left it up to Klbkch.

“Sign me out for today, would ya?”

Ignoring his partner’s protests, Relc waved goodbye and ran off into the crowd. Ashe was working again today and he wanted to see how she was doing. She’d said that Torg was treating her okay, but he wanted to make sure.

The fact that this would be the third time this week he’d checked in on her meant nothing, even if it was only the fourth day since she’d started.

He burst into the bustling tavern.

“Hey!”

Torg clenched the cup in his hand as though he wanted to pitch it at his head.

“Relc!”

From the doorway leading into the kitchen, Relc thought he heard Ashe saying something.

( _You nearly put your head into your claws before remembering they were smeared with meat. Instead you groaned. “For goodness sake, dad!”_ )

Willfully ignoring the daggers glare Torg was giving him, Relc sauntered over and took the one free seat at the bar. He grinned at the barman.

“Torg.”

The other Drake nearly growled. “Relc.”

“How’s my girl doing?”

Torg sighed and set down the cup he’d been gripping.

“She’s fine. She’ll always be fine. You think I want you after my neck?”

Relc just laughed and slapped a claw against the counter. “Good, good. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to her.”

Ashe yelled from the kitchen.

“Dad, go home! Stop embarrassing me!”

He called back. “I’m hungry! Feed me!”

“We’re not at home! You gotta pay!”

“Fine! But feed me!”

“I’m gonna give you pizza and you’re gonna shut up!”

“Maybe!”

He cackled as she audibly groaned. He looked over at Torg as the bartender served another drink to one of the Drakes sitting at the bar. Glancing around the busy tavern, Relc noted the familiar dishes scattered around and was smug at all the looks of surprise and enjoyment as other Drakes tasted Ashe’s recipes. He knows Erin made them too, and she’d been the one to introduce them to Liscor while Ashe was off being a courier, but this time his daughter would get the recognition she deserved. He turned back to the barman.

“Really, Torg, how’s she doing?”

“She is a wise investment,” he replied. He nodded at his busy tavern. “Everyone’s been coming to try the new recipes. Stealing them too, but what can you do?” He shrugged. “She says she hasn’t run out of ideas yet, and even if others steal her recipes it doesn’t change the fact that they debuted here first.”

“Boss, we’re running low on food again!”

Torg bellowed back to the female to send a runner for more supplies. He paused when turning back because his eyes met Relc’s. He leaned forward.

“You pay her appropriately for all this business she’s bringing in, right?”

“Dad!”

Ashe stomped out of the kitchen and set a plate of pizza down in front of him. She scowled at him, but he let her displeasure slide right over him. Checking in on her may embarrass her, but he needs it. He needs to know that she’s still here with him. 

He can’t stop thinking that Ainz Ooal Gown is going to show up early one of these days and take her away again.

( _he’s not strong enough, not yet, and maybe he’ll never be strong enough, not against those monsters, but_ damn it _, this time he’s going to leave more than just a **scratch**_ )

* * *

**That which does not kill us makes us stronger.**

**~Friedrich Nietzsche**


	6. Chapter 6

It’s been nearly four months since Hawk left Liscor, and you have gained the [Cook] class and leveled up to Level 5. [Basic Cooking] is really useful, especially in helping you feed Relc. You hope to get more useful skills as you level up, and your goal is to become a high-level chef. You’ll probably work for someone or somewhere as managing a business doesn’t really appeal to you. It sounds like so much work! 

Is laziness genetic? If it is, you think you got some from Relc.

Shaking your head, you called out from the kitchen stove. “Dad! Breakfast!”

You hear a groan from his room and assume that he’ll be getting up. It’s strange. When you first left the army, Relc went on and on about how he was going to relax and sleep in, laughing how he was finally free from the early morning hours of the army. He seemed determined to keep his word, too, but ever since he stopped you from leaving, he’s really thrown himself into his work for some reason. Thus, you are mostly certain that he actually is dragging himself out of bed and will be at the table soon.

Since noticing this change in him, you’ve been getting up early as well. Not because you have to be at work right away, but because you want to support dad in his endeavors, and in this case you have decided that making breakfast for him is the way to go. This morning you’ve made a feast of eggs: poached eggs, fried eggs, boiled eggs, and omelets. Of course, no self-respecting Drake forgoes meat (mostly because it’s a necessity given Drake physiology), so there’s plenty of bacon too. 

No coffee, though, but neither you or Relc know what you are missing, so you don’t care, nor do you enlighten Relc to the so-called magic of coffee. Better he doesn’t know, really.

The door to his bedroom opens and it isn’t long before he’s taking a seat with a heavy thud. Amazingly, the chair doesn’t break, but then again it was built by Drakes for Drakes, even ones as big as dad.

He’s still blinking the sleep out of his eyes and scratching his stomach, but he manages a smile at the food.

“You’re a lifesaver, Ashe.”

You laugh slightly and wave your claw, taking a seat at the table too. “Eat up. You don’t want to be late.”

He grumbles as he ladles eggs and bacon onto his plate. “Oh, but I _do_ , Ashe. I do. I want to be late enough that the captain is breathing down my neck, because that’d mean that I wasn’t half-dead from a lack of sleep.”

You grin and shake your head slightly. Well, you can’t deny that it is nice to sleep in. As a matter of fact, that’s what you do when he leaves: go straight back to sleep. The envious glare he’s giving you tells you that he suspects this and is jealous. But still, you’re proud of him that he’s taking his job seriously.

As you eat breakfast with him, fending him off from what food you claim as yours, you find a familiar warmth of happiness in your chest. This, feeding him and eating with him, it makes you happy. Never could you do this with your brother, not in the world you’d been born in a lifetime ago. Relc might not be the person you had always imagined, but every meal like this was a dream come true.

Not that you ever tell him that, mostly because you think he’ll tease you about being sentimental or something.

After seeing him off, you wash most of the plates with water left over from yesterday. There isn’t running water in this building, or most buildings if any, so you have to fetch it at least once a day, sometimes more depending on what you’re cooking and how much of a mess you have to clean up. Usually you’re the one who gets it, though dad will help out with that chore sometimes too, especially if you tell him to. When the dishes are done, you go back to your room and either nap or laze about until you feel like getting up.

You don’t have a morning shift at Claws and Scales, though you are beginning to suspect that Torg is reconsidering that. Relc likes to brag about your cooking as though it’s one of the best things ever (which is so embarrassing, though it does make you happy and also determined to match up to his bragging), and your breakfasts have been his favorite subject this week whenever he stops by your workplace.

When sleep doesn’t come to you, you decide to write on one of the scrolls you bought. Writing equipment is so expensive, so you write in small, neat lettering as best you can, but using a quill is a pain in the tail. You aren’t keeping a diary, not with Relc being a nosy blabbermouth, so you’ve decided to write a story about the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick and the Forty-One monsters who call it home.

You’re still on the first three floors since there is a lot of horror to them, not to mention Shalltear Bloodfallen herself, which in turn leads to telling of Peroroncino and at least one mention of his elder sister Bukubukuchagama.

Truthfully, though, you aren’t sure what kind of story this will ultimately be. After all, it’s doubtful that people would want to read about victorious monsters, especially an undead like Momonga, but then again, it’s not as though you’re going to share this story with many people, if at all. Relc has mentioned wills before, had to, really, since it’s mandatory for all soldiers to have theirs written and updated before each battle, so maybe you could write a will of your own and have it state that this scroll and any other scrolls you make are not to be opened and read. Yeah, you should stipulate that they should be burned. That way you could write all you wanted and not worry about it too much. After all, what would thieves want with a made up story, and what’s the worst Relc could say if he snooped around and found them before you died? Tell you not to write about that?

Refreshing the ink on the quill tip, you continued writing about Shalltear, describing the gothic Lolita clothing she wore before transforming into a blood-red Valkyrie. Honestly speaking, you’re impressed with Peroroncino’s NPC. She’s undead but wields holy magic? Multiple forms and resurrects after she’s defeated, forcing her opponents to face her a second time? She’s a genius work of art. The only reason you never told Peroroncino that you were impressed was because he tended to be kind of off-putting. He’s was Momonga’s friend, though, so you had put up with him.

You pause, thinking of Demiurge on the Seventh Floor, and his creator Ulbert Alain Odle.

…Huh. After thirteen years, you finally seem to have overcome your crush on the Floor Guardian. You still admire Ulbert, though. He was very Chuunibyou, but that’s what made him fun. He always played the villain so well. It was fun to watch him unleashed on the enemy, though much less fun when he was arguing with Touch Me. Honestly, how your brother could have sincerely believed that those two were friends is beyond you.

Sighing, you stopped writing and set your quill down so that you could stare at the wall without ink leaking all over the place. It’s been almost thirteen and a half years since you died and were reborn here, but thanks to [Perfect Recall] you can remember the guild with great clarity. In fact, if you closed your eyes and just imagined it, you could tour the dungeon and remember quite a lot of details. Most of your contribution to Nazarick had been funds—both in-game and real life—but you had been regaled more than once about certain traps and features. 

You hadn’t thought about Nazarick much, not like this, but with the path of a Courier closed to you in deference of dad’s wishes, being stuck in Liscor gave you a lot of time for thinking. You can see him in your mind’s eye, your brother’s avatar, that undead overlord. You want to try drawing him, but drawings are probably more dangerous than words. It’s one thing to try picturing something from words, but another to see it laid out before you. After the Necromancer, you don’t want to be found in possession of a picture of an undead. It could be dangerous and you don’t want to be ostracized.

The same could probably be said about most of the Forty-One, so you won’t be drawing them either. You might be able to get away with drawing some of the Floor Guardians, though. Not Cocytus since there’s been two Antinium wars, but the others should be okay even if they skirt some kind of line. You’ll start with Gargantua since it’s basically just moving rock, but not right now.

Opening your eyes, you looked back down at the parchment and the story of the Floor Guardian and the first three levels of Nazarick. A smile came to your face as you picked up the quill and continued writing.

You might not share this story with anyone, but you can’t deny that you feel happy writing it. Once, you had been a group of forty others, one of whom was your own twin brother. You had all gone on adventures and built a place you all called home (if only for a while). It had been a beautiful and deadly place, created together and made into a wonder. Even if no one else believed, Nazarick had existed, and in your memory and with your class [Reincarnate]…

The memory of Nazarick—of your brother’s happiness—would live on.

( _you vow to remember him, that man who once was your whole world and is now_

_a_   
__

_distant_

__

_  
_star_ )  
_

* * *

**“There is no death, daughter. People die only when we forget them,' my mother explained shortly before she left me. 'If you can remember me, I will be with you always.”**

**~Isabel Allende, Eva Luna**


	7. Chapter 7

Relc _hates_ getting up early. It’d probably be easier if he didn’t stay out so late as often as he did, but damn it, he still wants to have fun. He can’t be super serious all the time, he’ll drive himself insane. He’d be no good to anyone if that happened. Not that that thought helps make it any easier to get up in the mornings.

Ashe making breakfast most days helps out a lot. Back when she was a Courier, she’d make breakfast when she was home, but most of the time he made do with either a cold morning meal of whatever he scrounged up or bought something from whatever place his stomach led him to. Her cooking in the morning helped motivate himself in getting out of bed because a cold breakfast didn’t have the same punch as a warm one.

“Relc?”

Tearing himself from daydreams about food, he looked over at his partner. “What? Did you get our assignment for today?”

Klbkch nodded. “I have. We should proceed.”

He grumbled but complied, following the ant man out of the barracks and into the streets. He remembered patrolling back in the early days, the suspicion and occasional harassment from people who were wary of the Antinium. After two wars that was fair, and even Relc knew deep down that he probably couldn’t fully _trust_ his best buddy, not when Klbkch is what he is—a legend from the wars and the direct link between Liscor and its Hive—and it’s annoying that he’s going to have to go through all of that again.

Relc wanted to live to be old, but he didn’t mean it by reliving his life. Seven years was a good chunk of time, so even if he is technically, what, twenty-something right now, he still feels like thirty-something. No one knows that they’re living a life that already passed, no one except him.

Why him? Why did he get sent back? Did Ainz Ooal Gown mean to send him back in time? He doubts it, not when that could give him an advantage in swaying Ashe—and damn if he isn’t going to make the most of it—but if it wasn’t Ainz then who? Or what?

Relc knows the gods are dead, so it can’t be them.

Geh. He’s not likely to get any answers like this. He might never know _why_ so he shouldn’t waste his time on it. His time should go towards more useful things like training, eating, and sleeping when he can. He’s not going to stop napping, not even with the threat of Ainz Ooal Gown hanging over everyone.

It’s the small things, right?

Scratching his head, Relc yawned.

The day seemed to drag on forever. The most interesting thing to happen was breaking up a fight outside the Adventurer’s Guild. Feh. He didn’t like these weenies the first time around and he has even more disdain for them after the whole Nazarick thing. It’s because of adventurers that Ainz felt the need to stir shit up and attack Pallass and if it wasn’t for that…

If it wasn’t for that, Ashe needn’t have ended up in Ainz’s bony hands.

So maybe he knocked the adventurers around a little harder than strictly necessary, but what was Captain Z gonna do, kick him off the Watch? Even now Relc is pretty much the strongest guardsman and almost everyone knows it. He and Klbkch can make quick work of any monster they come across on their patrols outside the city walls, and there’s no one in the city stronger than him. It’d be a different story if Zel was visiting, but he’s not.

Blinking, Relc remembers covering for Erin and that Selyss female as they dug up an important grave to deposit Zel’s ashes there. Was there anything he could do about Zel? Try to advise him not to go north, maybe, but probably not much else. Well, even if he is a great hero and someone Relc looks up to, Zel isn’t Ashe.

Ashe and Embria are more important than anyone else he might save in this rehashing of his life. Their safety supersedes anything or anyone else. Klb and Erin are after that, though, so after Erin shows up, he’s going to stick to Klb like glue. No way the idiot is dying from a few goblins this time.

Although if they keep up their sparring, maybe Klb will end up okay, if they level up from it.

Going back to the rehashing thing, that reminds him: there are famines coming up, years when the harvests fail and even fish is scarce. He needs to come up with a plan on how to ride that out. He was miserable the first time because every supply shortage caught him off guard, but this time Ashe isn’t going to be away from it all. She’s going to go hungry too.

He nearly stops in his tracks, and as it is, he jerks slightly in his walking. It is enough that Klbkch notices and asks a question, a nosy busybody all over again.

“Is something wrong?”

Relc grumbles and rests his spear against his shoulder as they keep walking.

“How would you suggest storing food for a long period of time? Is there a way to do it cheaply? Preservation runes are pretty much out of my range.”

The bug man doesn’t answer immediately, but Relc remembers that Klbkch used to think carefully about his answers. He still usually put a foot in his mouth and sounded all weirdly formal, though.

“If runes are out of the equation, I would suggest dried foods for this imagined scenario you have told me nothing about.”

He barked a short laugh. “You got me there.” He lowered his voice to slightly lower than his usual boisterous tone. “Alright, say the herds failed for some reason. You’ve been here a few years now, not long, but long enough that you’ve experienced the rainy season. Before each rainy season, the shepherds sell and slaughter their flocks. The city stocks up and people buy their own small stores of meat that they’ll eat before the city population starts eating away at the city’s supply.

“But, say the flocks suffer some misfortune. Sickness, falling prey to monsters, whatever. The city suffers a shortage, so Drakes and Gnolls are going to have to go without meat. That’s bad for our health. We’ll make do with vegetables, grains and whatnot, but we’ll be miserable. Now, say you want to prepare in case that happens—how would you do it?”

Klbkch answered after a half-moment.

“I would make do as I always have—with the paste provided by the Hive. Meals outside of the Hive are rare, and I can easily make do without them.”

Relc groaned. “That’s not what I—damn it, Klb. That paste stuff sounds gross, and just in case I haven’t said it yet, don’t talk about it near Ashe.”

The Antinium nodded. “Of course. It would be inconvenient if you became that irrational once again.”

He scowled. “Hey, it was completely rational to try to kick your weird butt after you upset her like that.”

“Had you killed me, you would have started a war.”

“If she had died you _would_ be dead.”

Klbkch shifted his head, glancing over at him.

“You think nothing of starting another Antinium war?”

“You don’t understand what it’s like to be a father.”

“Evidently not. I doubt I ever will.”

He snorted, remembering the weird Antinium that Erin had been so fond of.

“You got that right.”

( _his misses the glance his tone earns him, something more than just his words alone would have, but his partner makes no further comment_ )

Later, going home that night somewhat buzzed, he opens the door to have the smell of cooking waft over him. His stomach grumbles and his daughter calls from the kitchen, bright and cheerful and _here_. He pauses at the sight of her, already eating, and he remembers sitting alone in a bar, drinking like a fish and believing she was dead.

Come to think of it, he never really had _proof_ that she’d been alive after being taken, did he? Ainz just said that she was his sister, Pallass’s report didn’t confirm one way or another, and there was no guarantee that if Embria had actually gone to Nazarick that it would be Ashe as she was—a Drake—who would greet her. Ashe could have been made into a zombie, or killed, stripped of her flesh and risen again as a skeleton like her brother.

The thought of his youngest being an undead painfully wrenches something in his chest.

“Dad?”

She sounds concerned, so he forces a grin on his face.

“Little too much to drink, Ashe. Nothing to worry about.”

She huffs and waves him over. “Well, come eat something. I know you probably already ate, but—“

“I’ll eat,” he cuts in, reassuring her. Walking over to the table, he takes and seat and rubs his claws together. “Now, what have we here? Ooh, noodles!”

The worry slides off her face as he eats and he can’t help but wonder.

What face did she make when pleading for Pallass? When she first went before Ainz Ooal Gown?

( _when she’d been told she couldn’t go home to him?_ )

He can’t taste the food tonight, but he eats every last piece that she doesn’t put on her plate. He goes off to bed while she cleans the dishes. Lying in bed and listening to the sounds of her in the kitchen, Relc clenched his teeth and closed his eyes.

He tries very hard not to think about the future seven years from now.

* * *

**A daughter is a treasure and a cause of sleeplessness.**

**~Ben Sirach**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: Right, forgot for a moment. Someone posted two of my stories over on FF.net without my permission. :( As you can imagine, it's upsetting. My solution is to call that person out (which I did in a review), post a notice on the stolen stories here and not update them ever again while they're posted elsewhere. I'm glad that so many of you know better and don't do stuff like that.
> 
> So, sorry to any fans of Supreme and one is silver (the other, gold).
> 
> Edit: Oh, good, the stories were removed. All right. But still, the hiatus will remain in place for a while longer. I'm still too upset to even think about those two at the moment.


End file.
